GST/HST Info Sheet
Newspaper Carriers
This info sheet explains how the goods and services
tax/harmonized sales tax (GST/HST) applies to the
business activities of newspaper carriers.
Newspaper carriers (carriers) may be involved in a
number of different business activities. For example,
they may buy newspapers from a publisher to resell
to subscribers or to customers through newspaper
boxes; they may deliver bundles of newspapers to
stores, to drop-off locations, or to newspaper boxes
for the publisher; and they may deliver flyers or free
publications to homes. In addition, a carrier may
have service contracts with more than one
newspaper publisher.
In this publication, “registrant” means a person who
is registered or is required to register for the
GST/HST. “Taxable” means subject to the
GST/HST at 6% or 14%. “Consumers” means
individuals or businesses that buy goods (e.g.,
newspapers) for their own use and not for resale.
“Input tax credit” means amounts of GST/HST that a
registrant has to pay on its business expenses that the
registrant can claim in its net tax calculation.
Generally, carriers have to register for the GST/HST
if the value of the taxable goods and services they
provided in the last four calendar quarters was over
$30,000. A carrier may also register voluntarily. For
more information on GST/HST registration, refer to
the guide RC4022, General Information for
GST/HST Registrants.
GI-019
La version française du présent document est intitulée
Livreurs de journaux
September 2006
A carrier who is a registrant and provides taxable
goods and services is required to charge and account
for the GST/HST on these goods and services. The
carrier is eligible to claim input tax credits (ITCs),
subject to the normal rules respecting ITC eligibility.
Different rules apply if newspaper publishers use the
Alternate Collection Method (ACM) to charge and
account for the GST/HST on their sales of
newspapers to independent carriers who resell them
to consumers. Under the ACM, carriers pay the
publisher the GST/HST calculated on the retail price
of the newspapers even though the carriers purchase
the newspapers at the wholesale price. Whether or
not they are registrants, the carriers collect the tax on
the retail price of the newspapers that they sell to
consumers. The carriers do not, however, have to
account for the tax collected from their customers.
Under these conditions, for GST/HST purposes, the
carriers are considered not to have made any sales of
newspapers to their customers.
Carriers do not include their sales of newspapers
under the ACM in their calculation to determine if
they must register for the GST/HST. Carriers that
are registrants are not eligible to claim ITCs for the
tax they paid or pay on the newspapers they
purchase for resale under the ACM.
Where a newspaper publisher uses the ACM, this
does not necessarily mean that all of a carrier’s
activities fall under the ACM. Carriers must identify
which of their activities fall under the ACM and
which do not so that they can determine if they have
Newspaper Carriers
to be registered for the GST/HST. Carriers that are
registrants must also know when to charge and
account for the GST/HST.
Carrier A collects the GST based on the newspaper’s retail
price from the subscribers, but he does not account for the
GST collected on his sales of newspapers in determining
his net tax.
Examples of a carrier’s most common types of
business activities are described below. These
examples explain whether or not a carrier is required
to charge and account for the GST/HST on a
particular activity.
Even if the carrier were a registrant, he would not account
for the tax collected on the sale of newspapers to
subscribers because the publisher is using the ACM. He
would also not be eligible to claim an ITC for the tax paid
on the newspapers that he purchased for resale.
The retail price of the newspaper is $0.94.
The carrier buys and sells newspapers
Sales made to consumers
Most daily newspaper publishers that sell
newspapers to carriers for resale to consumers use
the ACM. When a newspaper publisher using the
ACM sells newspapers to carriers for resale to
consumers, the publisher charges the carriers the
wholesale price for the newspaper and the GST/HST
based on the retail price. The carriers recover the
GST/HST that they pay on the retail price when they
collect the tax from their customers. The carriers do
not account for the GST/HST that they collect in
determining their net tax.
It does not matter how a consumer pays for the
newspaper. The consumer can pay the carrier
directly or the publisher can collect the payment on
behalf of the carrier.
The ACM does not always apply even when a
publisher is approved to use it. For example, if a
carrier buys newspapers to resell to stores, the
purchase and resale of these newspapers do not fall
under the ACM. For more details, refer to the
section “Sales made to stores”.
If a carrier buys and resells newspapers where the
ACM does not apply, the carrier will pay the
GST/HST on the wholesale price of the newspaper.
If the carrier is a registrant, the carrier will be
required to charge and account for the tax on the
retail price of the newspaper.
Carrier A is a carrier for the local daily newspaper
publisher in Saskatchewan. He buys newspapers from the
publisher (who uses the ACM) at the wholesale price and
pays the GST based on the retail price. This is Carrier A’s
only business activity. He resells the newspapers to
subscribers for the suggested retail price.
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Carrier A pays to the publisher
Wholesale price of newspaper
GST on retail price of paper (6% x $0.94)
TOTAL
$0.75
0.06
$0.81
TOTAL
$0.94
0.06
$1.00
Carrier A collects from the subscriber
Retail price of newspaper
GST on retail price of newspaper
Sales made through newspaper boxes
Carriers may purchase newspapers from publishers
for resale to consumers through newspaper boxes. If
the carriers are making at least 50% of their
newspaper sales to subscribers and if the publisher is
using the ACM, the rules for the ACM described in
the section “Sales made to consumers” apply to the
sales of newspapers through newspaper boxes.
If the carriers are making more than 50% of their
sales through newspaper boxes, the publisher and
these carriers cannot use the ACM even if the
publisher is using the ACM for other carriers.
Instead, these carriers pay the publisher the
GST/HST on the wholesale price of the newspapers
they purchase. If the carriers are registrants, they
have to charge and account for the GST/HST on the
retail price of all their newspaper sales, including
those made through newspaper boxes.
A carrier is considered to have sold the newspaper
and received the GST/HST at the time the money is
removed from the newspaper box.
Carrier B is a registrant in Ontario and sells newspapers to
subscribers and through newspaper boxes. He does not
make more than 50% of his sales through boxes. The
newspaper publisher is using the ACM.
GST/HST Info Sheet (September 2006)
Newspaper Carriers
Carrier B pays the publisher the wholesale price of the
newspapers and pays the GST on the retail price of the
newspapers that he sells, including those sold through
newspaper boxes. Customers pay the GST on the
newspapers they buy. Carrier B does not account for the
tax that he collects on his sales of newspapers.
Carrier B is not eligible to claim an ITC for the tax paid on
the newspapers he buys to resell. However, he may be
eligible to claim an ITC on the tax paid or payable on other
business expenses.
Some carriers sell newspapers both to stores and to
consumers. If the publisher is using the ACM, the
ACM is used to charge and account for the
GST/HST on those newspapers that the carrier sells
to consumers. (See the section “Sales made to
consumers”.) However, the publisher and the carrier
do not use the ACM to account for the GST/HST on
the newspapers that the carrier sells to stores.
Instead, the publisher charges the carrier the
GST/HST on the wholesale price of the newspapers
that the carrier sells to stores. If the carrier is a
registrant, the carrier is required to charge the tax to
the stores and account for GST/HST on the
wholesale price of the papers sold to the stores.
Carrier C is a registrant in New Brunswick. She buys daily
newspapers to sell to subscribers and to stores located
along her route. The publisher is using the ACM. The
publisher charges the HST on the retail price of the
newspapers that she purchases to resell to subscribers.
For the newspapers that she sells to stores, the publisher
charges her tax on their wholesale price.
The retail price of the newspaper is $0.94.
Carrier pays
− For a newspaper sold to a retail store:
Publisher’s wholesale price of newspaper
HST on wholesale price of paper
(14% x $0.75)
TOTAL
− From the retail stores:
Carrier C’s wholesale price of newspaper
HST on wholesale price of paper
(14% x $0.85)
TOTAL
0.13
$1.07
$0.85
0.12
$0.97
Providing services
Delivery and other services
Sales made to stores
− For a newspaper sold to a subscriber:
Publisher’s wholesale price of newspaper
HST on retail price of paper (14% x $0.94)
TOTAL
HST on retail price of paper (14% x $0.94)
TOTAL
$0.75
0.13
$0.88
$0.75
0.11
When a carrier has a service contract with a
publisher, the carrier may provide such services as
delivering newspapers and flyers to homes, business
offices, stores and newspaper boxes; inserting
advertising supplements into newspapers to be
delivered; and, in the case of newspaper boxes,
removing the previous day’s unsold papers and
collecting the money in the boxes. If a carrier has a
service contract with a publisher, the carrier is not
buying newspapers to resell.
Carriers who are registrants are required to charge
the publisher the GST/HST on their services and to
include this amount in determining their net tax.
They may also be eligible to claim ITCs for the tax
paid or payable on their business expenses, subject
to the normal rules respecting ITC eligibility
For more information on situations where a carrier
provides services such as delivering newspapers, and
sells newspapers to consumers, refer to the section
“Carriers selling newspapers to consumers and
providing services”.
As part of its delivery business in Manitoba, Local
Deliveries Inc. delivers a daily newspaper and free flyers
twice a week to homes. It delivers the newspaper to home
and business subscribers, and to stores.
Local Deliveries Inc. is a registrant. It charges the local
newspaper publisher and the publisher of the free flyers
the GST on the amounts they pay for its services. Local
Deliveries Inc. includes the GST it charges both publishers
in determining its net tax.
$0.86
Carrier collects
− From her subscribers:
Retail price of newspaper
GST/HST Info Sheet (September 2006)
$0.94
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Newspaper Carriers
Carriers selling newspapers to consumers and
providing services
buys them to resell to subscribers and through newspaper
boxes.
A carrier may buy newspapers from a publisher to
sell to subscribers and to consumers through boxes;
deliver bundles of newspapers to stores and drop-off
locations; and deliver flyers or free publications to
homes.
She collects, but does not account for, the GST/HST on
the newspapers that she sells to subscribers and through
newspaper boxes.
Where the newspaper publisher is using the ACM,
the publisher charges the carrier the wholesale price
for the newspapers that the carrier buys and charges
the GST/HST on their retail price (see the section
“Sales made to consumers”). The carrier collects the
GST/HST from the consumers who purchase the
newspapers but does not account for the tax. If the
carrier is a registrant, the carrier will charge and
account for the GST/HST on the delivery services.
Carrier D buys 130 newspapers from the local daily
publisher. She resells 100 of them to subscribers. The
remaining 30 newspapers are sold to consumers through
her three newspaper boxes. In addition, she delivers
bundles of newspapers to several stores located along her
route. Sometimes the newspapers come with advertising
supplements that must be inserted into the newspapers
before being sold or delivered.
Because she is not a registrant, she does not charge the
publisher the GST/HST on the cost of her service of
delivering bundles of newspapers with advertising
supplements to the stores.
Scenario 2 – Carrier D is a registrant
As the local daily publisher is using the ACM, even though
Carrier D is a registrant, she collects, but does not account
for, the GST/HST on the newspapers she resells to
subscribers and through the newspaper boxes. She is not
eligible to claim an ITC for the tax she pays to the
publisher. She does, however, charge tax to the publisher
for her services of delivering the bundles of newspapers
with the advertising supplements to the stores.
For situations not covered in this info sheet
(e.g., special rules where one carrier sells
newspapers to another carrier or where one carrier
delivers newspapers to another carrier who then
delivers the newspapers to subscribers), please call a
GST/HST Rulings Centre toll-free at 1-800-9598287.
Scenario 1 – Carrier D is not a registrant
Because the local daily publisher uses the ACM, Carrier D
buys the newspapers at the wholesale price but pays the
GST/HST on the retail price of the newspapers when she
This info sheet does not replace the law found in the Excise Tax Act (the Act) and its Regulations. It is provided for your reference. As it
may not completely address your particular operation, you may wish to refer to the Act or appropriate regulation, or contact any CRA
GST/HST Rulings Centre for additional information. These centres are listed in GST/HST Memorandum 1.2, Canada Revenue Agency
GST/HST Rulings Centres. If you wish to make a technical enquiry on the GST/HST by telephone, please call the toll-free number 1-800959-8287. A ruling should be requested for certainty in respect of any particular GST/HST matter.
If you are located in the province of Quebec and wish to make a technical enquiry or request a ruling related to the GST/HST, please
contact Revenue Québec by calling the toll-free number 1-800-567-4692.
All GST/HST publications are available on the Internet at the CRA site at www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/technical/gsthst-e.html.
Reference in CRA publications is made to the harmonized sales tax (HST) that applies to property and services provided in Nova Scotia,
New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador (the “participating provinces”) at a rate of 14%. The goods and services tax rate is 6%.
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GST/HST Info Sheet (September 2006)